26 Jan 2014 by Natasha Kim CM-
The strictly students’ service at CHCKL (City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur), on the 17th of January, saw around 250 students gathered together to worship the Lord. The service, which will be held every Friday at 8 PM, brings the youth into a deeper relationship with God on a personal level. That particular evening was themed “Back to School.” It was an enjoyable night where many of the youths came dressed in their uniforms and school bags. The head of the youth ministry Sung Lin said, “We try to have themes to build the excitement every week. That is used to guide the service in terms of what games to play, what songs to sing, what sermon and offering to preach. Even without the themes, we try to make it as fun and engaging as possible.” No one is ever too young to start serving God!
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17)
As the service began, the students solemnly worshipped God where they stood, each of them soaking in His love, as the presence of the Holy Spirit began to fill the room. After praise and worship that evening, the students played some games and shared a touching testimony on how they managed raise a significant amount of money to help build a library for the less fortunate. Sung Lin shared that their vision this year is to reach 500 people, driven by the campus groups. “This is where we elect campus leaders and assign members towards their campus. We believe in campus outreach! The new ministries that we are working towards are the YouTube ministry (to allow youths to express themselves in the creative media) and the Testimony ministry (to collect stories of faith and values in and out of the four walls of the church),” he said. Another vision that they want to fulfill this year is to be familiar with the Bible and not just the sermons.
That evening, Pastor Keith Tay came up to share at the pulpit and said, “This is a year of no repeats!” He went down to the heart of the matter and talked about the decline of the youths in the church, ever since graduating and starting to work. “This Church started when I was just 20 years old and when Pastor Kevin Loo was around that age as well. We knew nothing much about serving God but we really wanted to see a church that has a lot of young people, and one where people can be themselves. Often it is uncommon for older people to say, ‘Let the youth do what they want to do.’” However, he shared that they knew that they needed to break away from that. Their perseverance allowed them to become what they are today. Hence, they want to bring up the numbers of the youth once more, just as they did in the very beginning with faith and determination. “I want you to have a heart for Jesus Christ, so when people see you, they will see Christ in you, and not that selfish or egoistic you. Let’s grow this generation! I cannot fabricate what happened in the past, but I know that you can capture the heart and win your campus for Jesus Christ,” said Keith.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5: 22-23)
Young people are able to touch lives through the love of Christ they receive. In CHCKL strictly students’ service, they get to have fun, enjoy being young, advance their communication skills, enlarge their thinking, enlarge their creativity, and improve their sporting skills while doing it all for Christ. It’s all about building the youths up to become great people, and ultimately a greater society! Having a personal relationship with God begins the moment we realize our need for Him, admit we are sinners, and in faith, receive Jesus Christ as Savior. God, our heavenly Father, has always desired to be close to us, to have a relationship with us. In Genesis chapter 3, before Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, both Eve and he knew God on an intimate and personal level. They walked with Him in the garden and talked directly to Him. It was due to the sin of man that we became separated and disconnected from God.
Having a personal relationship with God isn’t difficult and there is no mysterious formula to obtain it. Once we openly accept God in our lives, we receive the Holy Spirit, who will begin to work on our hearts. From that moment, we should pray without ceasing, read the Bible, and join a Bible-believing church; all these things will help us grow spiritually. Trust in God to get you through each day and believe that He is your sustainer. That is the way to have a relationship with Him. The changes will not be immediate; they develop over time as we grow in Christ. Once that happens, all the truths will become clear.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
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